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Muslim Charity To Put ‘Allah Is Great’ Posters On Buses To Portray Islam In A Positive Light

Hundreds of British buses will carry adverts praising Allah as part of a campaign launched by the country’s biggest Muslim charity to help victims of Syria’s civil war.

Islamic Relief hopes the posters, which bear the words “Subhan Allah”, meaning “Glory be to God” in Arabic, will portray Islam and international aid in a positive light.

Buses will carry the advertisements in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester and Bradford.

These cities have large Muslim populations and the charity hopes it will encourage people to donate generously ahead of the start of Ramadan on 7 June.

According to Islamic law, Muslims are supposed to donate 2.5 per cent of their income to the poor and needy.

Known as Zakat, the pratice is regarded as one of the “five pillars of Islam”.

Many people choose Ramadan to donate their Zakat, as the month of fasting is regarded as a month of blessings.

Muslims believe the rewards for all good deeds are greater during Ramadan than during the rest of the year, according to Muslim Aid.

The charity hopes the campaign will help young Muslims channel anger about the war in Syria and discrimination at home into humanitarian work, thereby preventing them from becoming involved with extremist groups.

Imran Madden, the UK director of Islamic Relief, said: “In a sense this could be called a climate change campaign because we want to change the negative climate around international aid and around the Muslim community in this country.

“International aid has helped halve the number of people living in extreme poverty in the past 15 years, and British Muslims are an incredibly generous community who give over £100 million to international aid charities in Ramadan.”

The new campaign will appear on buses from 23 May on 640 buses around the country.

The adverts will have a special resonance in London as the city elected its first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, on Thursday – despite a Conservative campaign which repeatedly accused him of having connections to extremists.

An estimated three million Muslims are believed to live in London – around 50 per cent of British Muslim population.

Transport for London (TfL), which regulates the advertisements appearing on the city’s buses, has a clause banning campaigns linked to a “political party or campaign” but does not prevent religious advertising.

It can ban ads if it believes the campaign is likely “to cause widespread or serious offence”.

In 2012, a Christian charity had its adverts cancelled by then Mayor Boris Johnson after it was accused of claiming to “cure” gay people.

In 2009, the British Humanist Association drew complaints after it ran a campaign saying “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.

In response, Christian groups ran a counter-campaign saying there “definitely is a God” a month later.

Source: The Independent UK

May 11, 2016
Workers’ Party, Law Ministry Cross Swords Over Rules On Litigation Against Govt

Two Workers’ Party members – Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Low Thia Khiang – crossed swords with Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Law, in Parliament on Monday (May 9) over an amendment to the Government Proceedings Act.

The Opposition MPs took issue with Clause 9 in the Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2016, which would see a change to Section 29(4) of the Government Proceedings Act (GPA). They argued that the change would make it more prohibitive for individuals to enter into litigation against the Government.

Previously, the Act stated that: “In any such civil proceedings as are referred to in subsection (2) in which two legal officers appear as advocates and the court certifies for two counsel, costs shall be payable in respect of the services of both such legal officers.”

Clause 9 replaces the section with: “In any civil proceedings mentioned in subsection (2), costs are payable in respect of the services of more than two legal officers if the court so certifies.”

According to the Act, the change is meant to bring the previous laws in line with Order 59, Rule 19 of the Rules of the Court and Rule 871 of the Family Justice Rules 2014.

THE COURT IS THE SAFEGUARD: INDRANEE RAJAH

Ms Lim rose to record her reservation about Clause 9, saying: “Ms Indranee mentioned that this does not give the Government additional powers, but the fact is that under the existing Section 29 of the Government Proceedings Act, the cost claimable is limited to two. So this amendment would actually give an allowance to the court to certify more than two lawyers’ cost being payable.

“So it is a change to the legal position as far as the GPA is concerned.”

Ms Indranee said that the intent was to “bring it in line” with what is available to other civil parties.

Said the Senior Minister of State: “It is not intended to be costs used in an oppressive manner, but really where if costs are incurred, it gives the court the discretion to allow costs for more than two counsels if the court really thinks this is an appropriate place to do so.

“So the safeguard there is that it lies in the hands of the court.”

But Ms Lim said that “when you have the Government on one side of a legal proceeding and perhaps a private individual or private entity on the other side, you are dealing with really an inequality of resources in most case”.

She added: “The Government, with its legal officers, having the whole Civil Service there – the prospect of a litigant going into litigation with the Government and sustaining that litigation I think is already prohibitive to most people.

“So my question is why is the Government not able to take a broader view – or a magnanimous view, or perhaps a view from the the accountability standpoint – that we are not going allow costs to be an inhibition, or a prohibitive factor, when a litigant decides whether to continue with litigation or to commence litigation with the Government?

“I’m sure the Government doesn’t need the money, so the question is why do you need to change that provision to allow for more than two lawyers’ costs to be claimed? Why can’t you just limit the Government’s position to two?”

Ms Indranee she said that ultimately it should be up to the Courts to decide.

“The idea is that if it is a case that really a lot of work was incurred, and it appears to the court that it is fair and just to award costs for more than two counsel in such a situation, the court can do so. But if the Court, having taken into account the circumstances of of the case, feels that it is not equitable to do so, then it will be up to the Court,” she said.

“So at the end of the day, I think it rests with the Court to do the right thing with respect to the costs. And our Courts in this matter, I believe, are objective and fair,” she said.

The Government does its best to be fair, objective and rational about legal proceedings, added Ms Indranee.

“When this Government is engaged with litigation – whether it is brought by somebody else, or whether the Government has reason to initiate it – the Government does its best to be fair, objective and rational about it,” she said.

“It would not be our approach to use costs to be oppressive, but to seek costs where we think it is fairly and justly incurred, and to leave it to the court to make the appropriate decision on the quantum of costs to be awarded, and the number of counsel to be taken into account.”

WILL SOME FEEL INTIMIDATED, ASKS LOW THIA KHIANG

WP Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang then asked for a clarification, saying that he wondered if the change will “raise the perception of Singaporeans that the Government is using the clause to intimidate Singaporeans in bringing any legal case against the Government”.

He asked: “So is it a good thing for Singapore as a society that the people who feel somehow being victimised by the Government, but are intimidated by the costs that you don’t know how much the court is going to decide?

“The sense of intimidation of Singaporeans does not spell well for the future of Singapore.”

In response to Mr Low, Ms Indranee reiterated that it is not intention of the Government to intimidate anyone.

“I’ve said it before, once. I’ve said it before, twice. And I will now say it again a third time: It is not the intention of the Government to be using costs to intimidate anyone,” said the Senior Minister of State for Law.

“As I have indicated, when the Government has to defend a matter or pursue a matter, it will do so after having taken advice, doing so rationally, and doing so if it thinks it is the right course of action. That is the first thing when it comes to taken proceedings with respect to the amount of costs that the person may face, when a person brings proceedings against the Government, that person would, no doubt, be legally advised, and also have an indication of the amount of cost that would be incurred.

“And it should not be forgotten that if costs are to be awarded against that party, it does mean that that party, at the end of the day, ultimately failed against the Government, meaning that that case should not have been brought in the first place.”

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

May 11, 2016
Nama Pelajar Islam Disalah Eja Jadi ‘Isis’ Di Buku Tahunan Sekolah

Seorang pelajar California tertekan dan terpaksa menanggung malu, setelah gambar beliau sedang bertudung dipaparkan dengan nama “Isis Phillips” dalam buku tahunan sekolah tingginya.

Demikian menurut sebuah kumpulan penyokong masyarakat Islam semalam (8 Mei).

Pelajar tahun akhir di Sekolah Tinggi Los Osos di Rancho Cucamonga itu dan ibu bapanya “rasa malu setelah melihat gambar itu di buku tahunan itu, dan mengalami penderitaan emosi dan psikologi,” menurut kenyataan menerusi emel oleh Majlis Hubungan Amerika-Islam (CAIR).

Pengetua sekolah tersebut sudahpun meminta maaf atas apa yang disifatkannya sebagai “kesilapan pada cetakan”. CAIR menyatakan pasukan guamannya akan bertemu dengan keluarga pelajar itu dan pegawai-pegawai sekolah hari ini, dan meminta agar insiden tersebut disiasat, kata seorang jurucakap kepada Reuters.

ISIS merupakan salah satu gelaran bagi kumpulan Islamic State atau Negara Islam, kumpulan militan yang sudah merampas kuasa di sebahagian besar Iraq dan Syria, dan mengaku bersalah atas kejadian-kejadian pengeboman di Eropah.

Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) menyifatkan ISIS sebagai kumpulan pengganas.

Seorang pelajar yang terlibat dalam penerbitan buku tahunan tersebut berkata pihaknya tersilap mencetakkan nama yang salah itu, dan seorang lagi pelajar bernama Isis Phillips berpindah ke sekolah lain dari sekolah itu awal tahun ini, menurut laporan New York Daily News.

Gambar tersebut tersebar luas dan dikongsi berkali-kali di lelaman media sosial, termasuk dikongsi pelajar itu sendiri, yang nama sebenarnya ialah Bayan Zehlif, menurut New York Daily News.

“Saya amat sedih, meluat, hati saya terluka dan saya malu kerana buku tahunan Sekolah Tinggi Los Osos boleh terlepas dari perbuatan ini. Nampaknya nama saya ‘Isis’ dalam buku tahunan ini.

“Pihak sekolah sudah menghubungi saya dan ada hati beritahu saya mereka tersilap eja. Saya tidak setuju, marilah kita bercakap jujur,” menurut kenyataan yang ditulis pada apa yang kelihatan seperti laman Facebook milik Cik Zehlif.

Reuters tidak dapat mengesahkan sama ada akaun itu milik pelajar Islam tersebut, dan sama ada ia adalah namanya yang sebenar.

CAIR enggan memberikan nama pelajar itu. Para pegawai di sekolah tinggi berkenaan pula tidak dapat dihubungi.

Susan Petrocelli, pengetua sekolah itu, berkata para pegawai akan memperbetulkan “kesilapan pada cetakan” itu. Sekurang-kurangnya 200 buku tahunan sudahpun diagihkan, menurut CAIR.

“Sekolah Tinggi Los Osos sedang mengambil semua langkah yang perlu untuk membetulkan dan menyiasat kesilapan pada cetakan hang dikesalinya pada buku tahunan itu. Kami dengan ikhlas meminta maaf,” kata Cik Petrocelli dalam kenyataan yang ditulis di Twitter.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

May 11, 2016
SBS Driver Jumps Bail

An SBS Transit bus driver accused of negligent driving, which resulted in 23 passengers getting hurt, failed to appear at his hearing in court yesterday.

A warrant of arrest was issued for Ahmad Jamalulail Abdul Rashid, 43, a Malaysian national.

Jamalulail is accused of failing to keep a proper lookout while driving an SBS bus along Sims Avenue at about 5.25pm on July 11, 2014.

As a result, the vehicle hit the rear of another SBS bus that had slowed down because of road works ahead.

Two passengers suffered grievous injuries. Jaswinder Singh, 18, had a nasal fracture and Mr Lee Joo Long, 58, suffered injuries to his spine, court papers said.

Twenty-one other passengers, aged between 16 and 79, were also hurt.

Jamalulail was charged with one count of causing grievous hurt to Mr Lee and Mr Singh by a negligent act and one count of endangering the lives of the other 21 passengers by a negligent act.

He was granted $5,000 bail and was supposed to turn up at the State Courts yesterday.

But defence lawyer Amarick Gill told the court he had been unable to contact Jamalulail since March and later discharged himself.

Jamalulail’s bailor, who identified herself as his former colleague, was ordered to attend a show-cause hearing next month.

She told the court she has since filed a police report.

If convicted, Jamalulail faces up to two years’ jail and a fine of up to $5,000 for causing grievous hurt by a negligent act.

For endangering human life by a negligent act, he could be jailed up to six months and fined up to $2,500.

Source: The New Paper

May 11, 2016
RRG, MUIS Mahu Setiap Asatizah Ikuti Modul Cara Tangkis Fahaman Pelampau

Kumpulan Pemulihan Keagamaan (RRG) dan MUIS bermatlamat mendapatkan setiap asatizah mengikuti modul utama kumpulan itu mengenai cara menangkis fahaman pelampau.

Demikian menurut Menteri Bertanggungjawab bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

Modul itu adalah sebahagian daripada program Pendidikan Profesional Berterusan yang wajib disertai mereka yang berdaftar di bawah Skim Pengiktirafan Asatizah.

Dr Yaacob menjelaskan demikian sebagai menjawab pertanyaan dari AP Dr Fatimah Lateef.

Beliau berkata 80 peratus asatizah sekarang termasuk dalam skim itu.

Usaha giat sedang dijalankan bagi menggalakkan baki 20 peratus asatizah yang belum berbuat demikian supaya turut serta.

Menerusi modul itu, RRG berkongsi dengan asatizah tentang pengalamannya membantu bekas para anggota kumpulan pengganas Jemaah Islamiyah kembali ke pangkal jalan dan ke pangkuan masyarakat.

Menurut Dr Yaacob, MUIS dan RRG akan terus mengemaskini modul itu bagi memastikan ia kekal relevan.

Dr Yaacob menambah, MUIS juga akan terus memperkukuh kurikulum madrasah dengan bahan relevan yang dibangunkan RRG.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

May 10, 2016